Page 100 of Desire's Ransom
She poked him in the chest with an accusing finger.“Yeclaimed ye’d been betrayed.” She poked him again for good measure.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and wheeled with her, pressing her back against the wall and holding her there by the throat with one massive hand.
He arched a brow at her.“Youclaimed no one had seen Temair in six years.”
She gave him a smug smile. “I said no one in thetuathhad seen her, which was true. Butye…” She knocked his arm away and shoved at his shoulder.“Yeswore on your ‘knightly honor’ that ye wouldn’t leave the camp without my permission.”
“You asked me to watch the hounds,” he crowed. “Could I help it if they took off after you?”
She narrowed a smoldering gaze at him.
He crossed his arms in challenge. “Butyourbetrayal is assuredly the most cruel,Lady Gray. Youpretended you were not my bride.”
She could think of only one worse betrayal. She crossed her arms in imitation of him. “Andyepretended to love me.”
“Ididlove ye.” He shook his head. “Curse me for a fool, I still do.”
Her heart caught, and her arms slipped out of their fold. “Ye do?”
“Aye!” he snapped, irritated with himself. “Though god knows why, since you only wanted me for the ransom.”
“That’s not true.” At least it didn’t feel true now.
He looked glum as he kicked at the floor of the cave. “What were you going to do with all that coin anyway?”
She lowered her eyes. “I’d rather not say.”
He lifted her chin with his knuckle and moved forward until he was only inches away, drilling into her with his dark, demanding eyes. “You’d rather sell me for five hundred pounds than marry me. I think I deserve to know.”
She pulled her head away. It sounded awful when he said it like that. But she supposed she did owe him an explanation. “Fine. If ye must know, I wanted it for an army.”
He frowned, baffled. “An army?”
“Aye.” She raised her chin, proud of her plan. “An army o’ mercenaries.”
“An army.”
“That’s right.”
“For what purpose?”
“To lay siege to the tower house.”
He cocked a brow at her.“Yourtower house?”
“Tis not mine. It belongs to my devil of a father,” she bit out, “until he’s deposed…or dead.”
He lowered his brows. “So you planned to attack the tower house and remove the chieftain.”
She hesitated. What she intended was treason. “Aye.”
He stared at her a long while, saying nothing, showing no emotion. She wondered if he might turn her in as a traitor.
“I planned it. I didn’t do it,” she said defensively. “Ye can’t turn me in for onlyplannin’to do a thing.”
He stroked his stubbled chin thoughtfully and turned away from her. His silence was unnerving.
Finally he spoke. “Mercenaries are risky. They can’t be trusted. Their loyalty is for sale to whoever pays them the most.”
